


The Laughing Horror

by llenclyen



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman: The Killing Joke (Comics), Cthulhu Mythos - H. P. Lovecraft, Under the Red Hood
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-22
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2020-01-23 16:22:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,367
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18553402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/llenclyen/pseuds/llenclyen
Summary: An idea about what the Joker is and a possible timeline of crucial events in the Bat Family.  Told from the perspective of Alfred, this combines elements of Return of the Joker, Under the Red Hood, and The Killing Joke.





	The Laughing Horror

Miss Zatara,

I do wish I was writing you under happier circumstances yet sadly this is not the case. Events of unfortunate and horrific magnitude compel me to beg your assistance on behalf of Master Bruce and, more acutely, Master Jason. A week ago Master Jason became afflicted by a power so vile that, despite encountering such evil regularly, I and Master Bruce were completely taken aback by the degree of its corruption and depravity. Since then Master Bruce has been inconsolable, and, though it pains me to say so, incapable of addressing the matter at hand. It is for these reasons that I have taken it upon myself to seek your unique assistance in attending to this most worrisome of circumstances.  
To give you a full appraisal of the situation I must draw your attention to a series of events which began roughly three years ago. It was at this time that Master Tim had a horrific altercation with that foul Joker. I am certain you know of how that affair played out. Even for Master Bruce that was a terrible trial, and I feared for a time that it had broken him. For the better part of year Master Tim was barred from donning his cape, yet Master Bruce took to his regular activities with extreme vitriol that was fueled by a terrible anguish. There were several times I attended to wounds that he did not notice he had acquired. He seemed to be in something of a waking nightmare, bringing down his rage on any unfortunate criminal unlucky enough to become his quarry.  
Yet during that time the Joker never arose. I counted this as a blessing and prayed that Master Tim, despite his trauma, had done the world some justice and rid us of that horrifying creature forever. Alas, this was not to be. While the wretch had been grievously injured he had managed once again to keep a grip on his mortal coil and so, three months after he had scarred Master Tim, the hideous clown appeared again.  
This appearance coincided with the unexpected return of Master Jason. While I was overjoyed to hear of his resurrection, the Lazarus Pit always has its price and Master Jason was not without troubles apart from his new life. The reunion between him and Master Bruce was heated and resulted in Master Jason being sent to a hospital. Master Bruce arrived back at the manor close to dawn and spoke for some time about what had happened.  
From our discussion at that time, and some work I have done since then, I have been able to piece together the gist of a conversation that Masters Bruce and Jason had that evening. Master Jason had been reborn some years ago after his own tragic encounter with the Joker. In an sweet yet distorted display of affection for Master Bruce, Miss al Ghul and her father, had spirited Master Jason to a Lazarus Pit. After his resurrection, Master Jason felt aggrieved by his plight and blamed Master Bruce for it. Miss al Ghul, in an effort to curb Master Jason's more violent tendencies, directed him to an ancient sect of warrior monks called the All Caste. Under the direction of their leader, a woman named Ducra, Master Jason was set to train in their ways. I have spoken with Miss al Ghul and am led to believe that Miss Ducra's influence on Master Jason was meant to be a positive one, though sadly it seems there are some painful depths to Master Jason which she was unable to heal.  
Miss Ducra was a quite venerable lady as her time on earth had continued for some 3000 years. While in talks with her, Master Jason heard of an ancient and terrible enemy which she had faced over the centuries. This creature came from some dark place beyond the stars that not even Miss Ducra knew of. Master Jason mentioned that while Miss Ducra claimed it took on many forms, its core she would always refer to as the Crawling Chaos. There were other names however, and she met it first as a being called the Black Pharaoh, though over time she had encountered it as the Faceless God, the God of a Thousand Forms, and others. Miss Ducra said that these were not the whole form of the Crawling Chaos, merely portions of its insidious, malicious, and terrifying power. As Master Jason questioned Miss Ducra further he learned of another avatar that was most dreadful and familiar.  
The Laughing Horror.  
I believe you can see how such an epithet would spark his interest.  
Master Jason reveled that in his time with Miss Ducra, and in his later travels, he would find that the Laughing Horror bore some unique traits. Among the avatars of the Crawling Chaos it appears to operate like a possessing spirit, taking on hosts as it desires. It is also capable of creating spawn of itself. Lastly, and most terrifying, is its desire for death. Master Jason explained that every generation, this eldritch entity selects a champion who can slay it. The champion must be a righteous person who, in killing its vessel, will betray themselves and send the Laughing Horror back to its origin.  
Master Jason, despite his anger with Master Bruce, admitted that Master Bruce's moral conviction had spared the world a terrible disaster, as he was convinced that Master Bruce was the champion the Laughing Horror had set. That matter aside, there was a way to kill the host that lead to the foul creature going dormant for a time, or so Master Jason believed, and he was set to do just that as Master Bruce had let a second Robin be damaged at the hand of this loathsome jester.  
Master Bruce was unwilling to consider Master Jason's proposal and was not convinced, at the time, that the Laughing Horror and the Joker were one in the same. The Joker's affect on others was completely explainable by twisted applications of psychology and chemistry. Mankind is certainly capable of vast cruelty without invoking cosmic horrors. As they are want to do, the two masters came to blows in their disagreement and it was some time before there was even a semblance of civility between the two. For my own part I was curious at Master Jason's words and as time went by I was troubled by a singular question and the repercussions of its answer.  
How had the Joker survived all these years?  
Master Tim had shot him. He had walked away from explosions, being trapped in burning buildings, and falls from absurd heights. True, Master Bruce, all of his wards, and several of his associates have performed similar feats, yet they have formal training, advanced technology, and highly skilled medical professionals assisting them. Even then there have been tragic accidents. The Joker has little to none of these things and has made enemies of people with far less scruples than Master Bruce, practically goading the world into ending his life. Even when he has taken serious but not fatal injuries, he always seems to come back hale, never a new scar or a limp and quickly too. There have been times where it seemed his features changed, like he wasn't quiet the same person as before. For a time I entertained the idea that the Joker was an unrecognized metahuman, but once blood work was obtained I found this was not the case. The degree of his insanity and charisma are unheard of, he is truly, terrifyingly, unique. More frighteningly when he was brought up in a discussion with Detective Corrigan the detective said he could not bring punishment upon the Joker because of the degree of his insanity. The inhuman level of his mental state makes all the more sense if one accepts the that he is not human. This frightening conclusion was one which I reached some months ago, made all the more horrible when one considers that such an entity can render the Spirit of Vengeance powerless.  
When I scoured the records I came upon some truly alarming findings.  
While the Joker is not the first criminal that Master Bruce has encountered, or even the first resident of Arkham, the asylum has been in decline ever since the Joker was first admitted. When the man who would become the Joker was taken to Arkham years ago, was admitted, the asylum was run by a competent staff and was able to treat and even cure its residents at a quite proficient rate. In the years since the Joker became a recurring visitor the prestige of the staff has fallen, and I cannot recall a single person released from that loathsome place in recent years who was actually healed. More than that, the Joker was the first of a new kind of criminal, more powerful, cunning, and evil than those who came before him and a standard for many who have come after. Arkham, far from being a place to heal the mind, is a nexus of insanity. The Crawling Chaos, according to Master Jason, is a bringer of madness and there are even hints that it heralds the coming of others like itself who are greater in power.  
Master Bruce, despite the many masks he wears, is a good man and he is terrified of what he may become. It is for this reason, beyond all others, that I believe he has the iron code that he carries, regardless of its consequences. Master Bruce feels that he failed Master Jason not because he could not save his ward from the malice of the Joker, but because he did not save Master Jason from the darkness of himself. Allowing Master Jason to end the life of the Joker would be two failures to him. Because of these differences, while the two masters were able to come to some accord their relationship these past years has not been warm.  
A month ago, after Master Bruce had thwarted yet another scheme of the Joker's, he came to me and said he had given up. His moral code was failing him with the Joker and the inevitable doom was fast approaching. After spending the next two days in total seclusion Master Bruce had arrived at an acceptable alternative.  
He committed to speaking with the Joker, man to man, and have an honest discussion with the lunatic. Master Bruce worked on his speech for the next few days, and it was a fine speech. I hoped dearly that his words would reach the man that was buried somewhere in the creature, but I sincerely doubted that there was any humanity left in the Joker. Still, with a great deal of trepidation, and a heart full of hope, Master Bruce left for Arkham to speak with his old nemesis.  
The universe is terribly cruel some days, Miss Zatara.  
Shortly after Master Bruce arrived he discovered that the Joker had escaped once again, this time with the intention of breaking Master Bruce. In his own words he wanted Master Bruce to have 'one bad day'. As he was driving back to the manor word came over the police scanners that the Joker had abducted Detective Gordon. Master Bruce knew immediately where the horrible jester had gone, but then the other piece of news came.  
Miss Gordon had been shot, her spinal cord damaged. The cruel man had taken his time and seen to it that she and her father were humiliated as well.  
The entire family was in an uproar. Master Dick went immediately to the hospital to be with Miss Gordon. Master Tim demanded that Master Bruce allow him to accompany him for what was certain to be a vendetta. Master Bruce denied Master Tim's request and ordered him to go with Master Dick. Begrudgingly, Master Tim acquiesced.  
I was beside myself. The shock and horror of the tragedy, and just when some good might have come too, was a burden I could not bear.  
In my time in service to Her Majesty, I became quite adept in the use of firearms. This is a skill I have kept up in my service to Master Bruce. I was closer to the amusement park than Master Bruce, and felt that, regardless of what he may have believed, he was going to need assistance. Thinking back to the conversations with Master Jason I had prepared the method of slaying the Joker, even if it would only put the creature to rest for a time. Thankfully the method could be done while utilizing the skills of a marksman. I had stitched up too many wounds, and seen too many mental scars caused by this insufferable man, to allow him to draw breath for one more day.  
As I was driving out to park, determined to get there and end this madness, a cold chill took hold of my spine.  
Master Jason had said nothing.  
While he had not been allowed back on the communication system to the degree of the rest, he still had the police scanner. He would know what was going on. But he wouldn't know where to go. Perhaps we could avoid a confrontation between him and Master Bruce.  
That was when the words came through  
“Graveyards he's filled, friends he's crippled. Never again.”  
Master Jason had sent that to Master Bruce.  
I have since spoken with Master Tim who confessed that he was the one who sent Master Jason the whereabouts of the Joker.  
I rapidly came to the place where this tragic and dreadful play would take place. I hoped I was in time and I found a perch to locate and strike this madman from existence.  
I located him, and then I saw Master Bruce, but he was not the first to close with the Joker.  
Master Jason had beaten him to it.  
I watched as he strangled the life from the horrible clown that had plagued our lives and everyone in Gotham.  
I heard as that horrifying laugh became cries of help, and then go silent.  
And then I heard that hideous laugh begin again, but now it was from Master Jason.


End file.
